Green Roof Technology Blog

In the World’s Green Roof capitol it isn’t a problem to walk over 15 million square feet of Green Roofs in two days.
Grinnell College Students, Architects and Professors joined me this year on a two day trip though out Stuttgart Germany.

Within the city limits and a population of around 700,000, Stuttgart
can offer likely over 200 millions square feet of extensive and highly
divers Green Roofs – more than the entire USA and probably Canada
together.

The two days tour emphasized Green Roofs that are
between 15 and 30 years old and that host over 40 different plants
species. Remarkable is that not a single Green Roof was ever irrigated,
nor fertilized in the last 10-15 years and most of them are maintained
only once a year.

No Green Roof was ever replaced or fixed and
the water proofing under all Green roofs never, ever leaked (in the US
50% of the green roof are getting fixed or replaced in the first 5
years). The average installation costs were at around $4-6/sf (in the US
around $12-18/sf).

All Green Roofs have three major functions: stormwater retention, stormwater retention and stormwater retention.

Green Roofs in Stuttgart are part of a building like windows or doors. There is no necessity to make a big fuss out of it.
Being the World Champion in modern Green Roof technology is nothing to
celebrate – it is the responsibility of sustainable and environmental
conscious lifestyle combine with common sense.

The highlight of
the tour was the Bosch Parking Garage with the world’s largest Solar
Green Roof that was designed with extremely high diversity of plants
that are found only in (local) native dry meadows.
While the Green Roof measures around ¼ Million square feet the PV is designed for 1 Megawatt.
Unmatched world record in this combination on building structure that is 100 feet above a 6 lane Highway.

Modern Green Roof technology combined with a Blue Roof to minimize artificial irrigation, to maximize water retention and enable visitors to cross a busy four-lane highway without leaving the lush greening of a park.

The Garden Bridge at Universal Studios in Orlando is the first of its
kind in Florida. Designed by Miles Architecture Group Inc., Libra Design
Group and Green Roof Service LLC, the green bridge creates an
innovative connection of Universal City developments. Selected ground
covers, shrubs and trees escort pedestrians almost without notice that
they are crossing over a busy highway. The distinctive landmark project
is engineered with people in mind.

The Garden Bridge at Universal Studios Orlando project is approximately
3,000 sf (145' x between 18 and 25' wide). The bridge is designed to
pond water in the granular drainage area to increase the water retention
(a blue-green roof combination, Patent hold by Optigreen - 1978 and the first time introduced to North America by Jorg Breuning in 2001).

Unique projects require unique solutions. Keeping the costs for the
structure low, the trees are located above the bridge's pillars. The
walkway gently winds up to the bridge and over and is easy accessible
for the handicapped or service carts.

The project was possible with an outstanding waterproofing solution by ALT Global. ALT Global meets the FLL requirements for root resitance.

This innovative green roof project is a master piece of teamwork between
architects, structural engineers, landscape architects and green roof
professionals with an open mind, environmental leadership and common sense.

We believe a lot of people in North
America agree with the comment that in some areas Green Roofs can't thrive without irrigation. We at Green Roof Technology don’t disagree nor agree. Allow us to bring the
discussion into a fundamental perspective:

Before you built a structure, you have to remove nature or
simpler living plants that nobody watered before. Modern green roof technology
is able to mimic this type of environment and allows to promote exactly this
drought tolerant and hardy vegetation. With a little more understanding of this
technology, it is even possible to increase the plant varieties or the plants
density.

Nevertheless the attractivity might not
meet the expectations of us (humans). Our picture in mind of a roof garden is a
lush green vegetation form that is created with plants that please us (humans),
that are not poison or dangerous. In some areas we can achieve this goal by utilizing
resources that haven’t been available at this location before the structure was
built.

By using natural resources (and water is the most valuable)
we start changing our environment (we take water away from somewhere – from plants
somewhere) just for our own comfort. Understanding that and the value of water
should create an awareness to green roof professionals or engineers to design
modern green roof technology in a way that no water or super highly restricted
amounts of water are utilized.

Unfortunately, the irrigation industry and most of the green
roof designers grew up in an environment where resources are endless. With that
said the current waste of water on green roofs is simply not acceptable to me
and in these cases green roofs are an environmental nightmare - just for our
pleasure (and cash) and that things look “nice and green”.

When I drive around in neighborhoods in San Francisco in the
morning, my car is being washed by all the sprinklers and nobody has a problem
with that…..

Simple and efficient technology is here since many decades but
not in the interest of the industry, nor “re-invented” in the US or there is a
lack of common sense – maybe it is a combination of all.

Most issues I am confronted with, are a result of high tech
irrigation that is just not doing what it is supposed to do, there is not the
right app, poorly designed and installed, too complicated for facility people
etc. or simply drains the budget of building owners over time this water costs
are going up.

Let’s discuss further and email us directly: info@greenroofservice.com

Interesting input Jorg. Yes, extensive roofs
should be self-sufficient where they can be. But in my mind this is not
possible in really arid areas like Jim is saying. With our partners in
Abu Dhabi we are now investigating what plants should be used there,
where top temperatures are regularly reaching 120 F in summer months
(with no rain for years). If you use local plants that are surviving in
desert than they are surviving only due to the fact that the roots are
extremely long and go deep in to the ground to find some moisture (not
possible on the roof). Limited irrigation is still needed but the roof
needs design with minimised ET, so also irrigation is as low as
possible.

Maybe another thing to consider. Yes or no
irrigation is also a question of what someone wants from green roof.
Nice look is one aspect, stormwater managment is another. We should not
forget Energy efficiency. According to our investigation and perfromance
tests, evaporation has big effect on energy efficiency in the summer
due to cooling effect. If moisture in the green roof system drops below
certain level, the cooling effect is limited. So to have best energy
perfromance of the roof, than you need irrigation.

Response Jörg Breuning:

Thank you Jure.

My starting point of thoughts about irrigation on extensive
green roofs goes back to a fundamental point and only a handful people make
these considerations.

Humans are capable to replace nature with a manmade structure
on any location on Earth and they make it suitable for people to live there. In
these fundamental thoughts, I expect that humans are also able to create this
lost part of nature on top of these structures.

I agree this is not always cheap and not everybody is
blessed with creativity or experience. Nevertheless, it is possible and it is
our responsibility if we respect nature.

The rooting depth of plants is certainly a key element - it
isn’t a road block. It seems it is the preferred excuse that we don’t need to
feel responsible in what we re doing and that we don’t feel guilty.

I also think it using water for cooling buildings in an open
system (what any green roof is) is considered - in my world - using elementary,
limited and precious resources for our convenience. In the case that producing
water (in dessert states) for the wasteful irrigation of plants (to make our
close environment nice) might be a problem to justify to more than 100 million
people that have no access to dependable water resources.

What I am saying is, that growing plants even in areas where
plants would hardly grow can be done with extremely low impact on natural, precious
resources at costs that are lower in the short or long term. The current hype
for green roofs can create significant drawbacks in 15 or 20 years from now to
building owners if the costs of water continue to rise. Keep in mind a 20 year
old green roof is not even the half of the life span of a green roof (at least
that is what I know from experience).

Professionals need to start thinking long term
and not for quick profit, they should disregard fancy fashions or get away from
desperate LEED point collecting terms if they seriously respect nature.

Jörg Breuning

Picture: Deep rooting plant on roof with hardly any soil and never intentially planted (in Texas at the border to Mexico).

Baltimore, MD / Hershey, PA --- The Sustainable Roofing and Waterproofing Alliance (SRWA) hosted its fifth annual fall conference from October 8-11, 2013 in Hershey, PA. The event brought together a global audience of architects, roof consultants, green roof experts, building design professionals, contracting firms, and building owners. This unique program featured in-depth educational courses and hands-on demonstrations designed to inform and advocate for advanced green building practices.

Enhanced moisture control of super insulated, high performance buildings envelopes in each climate zone on Earth is the key for long-lasting, low-impact and healthy buildings. Proper solutions will maximize the payback of investments for building owners and drastically reduce the environmental footprint of building structures at the same time.

The speakers at the SWRA Conference paired common sense with decades of scientific research and developed best management practices for any building envelope application.

“With over 200 attendees from 19 countries around the world the fifth SWRA conference set a new milestone for building professionals”, said Jorg Breuning, Green Roof Service LLC – Green Roof Technology, “vegetation on top of buildings are the ultimate transition from manmade structures to the natural environment.”

Effective, economic design and maintenance principals of modern Green Roof Technology was presented and discussed by Jorg Breuning. With over 34 years of experience, Jorg Breuning demonstrated that thinking outside the box or a ridged modular grid will separate the wheat from the chaff.

The SRWA team led by Samir Ibrahim, Director of Design Services at Carlisle did a phenomenal job to make this conference happen.

Since
their first commercial production in 1871 (Georgmarienhütte, Germany), mineral
wool found its way in many applications like thermal insulation and soundproofing. Mineral wool, mineral fibers are typically referred
to synthetic materials like fiber glass, ceramic fibers and stone or rock wool.

Two main types of
mineral wools are on the market – water repellent (Hydrophobic) and water
adsorbent (Hydrophilic). For horticultural purposes, only the hydrophilic type
is useful. Many patents were granted for simple Hydroponic systems or the
germination of seeds with mineral wool in the early 80’s.

In
modern green roof technology the first green roof systems came on the market
around 1985 in Germany at a time as the German green roof industry gained tremendous
momentum. As a lightweight solution with high water retention, mineral wool
seemed an ideal material. The higher costs and the higher carbon footprint -
comparing to lightweight aggregates – were argued with easier installation and
higher water retention.

Extensive
research over more than 5 years at the University of Geisenheim and on numerous
buildings confirmed the high water retention properties. However, in the
mid-run these tests also revealed that the performance and the health of the
vegetation were far below conventional green roof systems with standardize
green roof components. Mineral wool manufacturers and green roof system
suppliers stepped away from the idea of using mineral wool as a growing
component for green roofs.

“Today
we can see a revival of mineral wools in the green roof industry,” says Jorg
Breuning, CEO, Green Roof Service LLC,” in countries with hardly any green roof
experience, mineral wool is getting rather popular with potentially fatal
results in the mid and long-run.”

Especially
in the United States, the market is growing rapidly for mineral wools on green
roofs, disregarding existing studies and without extensive long-term tests. It
isn’t even proven whether certain fibers can cause health problems, leach out chemicals
or whether these components can be recycled when the green roof doesn’t perform
anymore.

In 2012, the lack of performance of mineral wool
as a vegetation carrier resulted in a major green roof restoration at Amsterdam
International Airport. 90,000 square foot of green roof – built with mineral
wool - had been taken off and replaced by a standardized green roof system. At
this point, this was the largest green roof restoration in the history of
mineral wool on green roofs. Costs that could have been avoided.

The second oldest Green Roof Association* in the world, FBB (Fachvereinigung für Bauwerksbegrünung), awarded a prize for Green Roof of the Year 2014 to a 30 year old Green Roof on the Allianz Insurance Company in Stuttgart, Germany. Oldest Green Roof Association DDV (Deutscher Dachgärtner Verband).

The roof is one of the first projects where Jörg Breuning, CEO at Green Roof Service LLC / Green Roof Technology was substantially involved in the realization. Allianz Insurance Company decided in 1981 to build their local headquarters in the heart of Stuttgart. At that time the office building was already a big step forward for urban development in many regards. Along with very advanced, environmentally friendly technologies it was also one of the first buildings to achieve the split between living green working space and luxurious living in downtown of a large City.

The Green Roof is generally assembled around the building and on different levels. Most people in the offices have a view into the green spaces. Some areas of the Green Roof are accessible for coffee breaks and, on the highest floors there is usable garden space for the Condominium owners. The top floor even offers extensive lawn areas as playgrounds for kids.

All Green Roofs together measure over 21,000 sf. This inner city oasis utilized an advanced OptigreenGreen Roof Systems with fully automatic high tide and low tide irrigation system in the mineral drainage layer. The plants “decide” when they need irrigation; no drop of water is wasted or can evaporate before reaching a plant. Neither a person nor electricity is needed to operate this fully mechanical system and it leaves enough room for precipitation to fill up the water storage under the plants. This green roof represents a smart combination of Blue Roof and Green Roof as Green Roof Service LLC / Green Roof Technology is still doing it on projects today. It is a foremost and 100% accurate irrigation system far beyond most irrigation systems that are operated by sensors, electricity, Apps, tubes, pipes or other highly vulnerable and expensive equipment we see every day on projects in North America or around the world.

The entire depth of this highly efficient Green Roof technology is approximately 18 inch and has allowed lawn, perennials, shrubs and small trees to grow for over 30 year without replacement orchanging out the growing media.

WASHINGTON, June 18, 2014 -- The
final water supply forecast for this year shows the West divided into a
wet north and dry south while snowpack has already melted in much of
the region, according to data from the USDA National Water and Climate
Center (NWCC).

Washington, most of
Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the northern parts of Colorado and Utah are
expected to have near normal or above normal water supplies through the
rest of summer, according to the forecasts. Far below normal streamflows
are expected for the southern parts of Oregon and Utah, southwestern
Idaho, California, Arizona, New Mexico and western Nevada.

Many of these areas
are in the nearly 500 counties across the country experiencing drought,
57 of them in California alone, according to USDA disaster designations.

This year saw
near-record low snowfall in parts of Nevada, California, Arizona, New
Mexico and the southern parts of Utah and Oregon. Even with some May
precipitation, those areas remain dry. The biggest change this season
was in the Washington Cascades. At the beginning of February the
snowpack was about half of normal, but it recovered and most of
Washington will have a near normal water supply from snowmelt, according
to the Center.

Spring snowmelt is
well underway, according to NWCC hydrologist Cara McCarthy. “A lot of
our SNOTEL sites have already melted out, especially those in the
southern half of the West,” McCarthy said.

Colorado had mixed
weather during May. “They had winter and summer all in one month:
snowmelt, snowfall, snowmelt,” said McCarthy. Heavy precipitation
combined with snowmelt, causing flooding in parts of the state.

Forecasters monitor
conditions all year, but June is the final forecast of the season.
“These are snow-based water supply forecasts,” McCarthy said. “Typically
by July there won't be enough snow left on the ground (to measure).”

In Western states
where snowmelt accounts for the majority of seasonal water supply,
information about snowpack serves as an indicator of future water
availability. Streamflow in the West consists largely of accumulated
mountain snow that melts and flows into streams as temperatures warm
into spring and summer. USDA scientists analyze the snowpack, air temperature, soil moisture and other measurements taken from remote sites to develop the water supply forecasts.

The NWCC water supply
forecast is part of several USDA efforts to improve public awareness and
mitigate the impacts of climate change, including drought and other
extreme weather events. Through the creation of the National Drought
Resilience Partnership, launched as part of the President’s Climate Action Plan, federal agencies are working closely with states, tribes and local government to develop a coordinated response to drought.

Baltimore (I-Newswire) June 25, 2014 - Baltimore, MD. Green Roof Service LLC - Green Roof Technology offers the most reliable and cost efficient vegetated roof solutions to meet all challenges of growing vegetation on impervious locations. With efficient and ingenious solutions Green Roof Service LLC - Green Roof Technology successfully designed and engineered multi-million square feet of green roofs across Europe and North America since 1980. Their custom tailored design is even installed on 5 Celebrity Cruise Ships sailing around the world under permanent changing climate conditions.

"I have seen everything", says Jorg Breuning CEO at Green Roof Service LLC, "but what currently happens in the United States can be devastating for an entire industry". Green Roof Service LLC receives weekly calls from clients with green roofs that are not performing as promised.

All of these underperforming green roofs are designed and installed with a lack of experience at any stage of a project or they were compromised in the engineering or construction process.

Especially permanent installed irrigation on extensive green roofs (shallow, light weight functional roof for stormwater retention) is causing increasingly problems with maintenance and operational costs. "Permanent irrigated extensive Green Roofs should not get any incentives from Government, State or Cities", suggests Jorg Breuning. "They don't reduce the stormwater issues of human settlements and they require high amounts of nutrients that can also pollute our water ways."

Irrigated extensive green roofs are often recommend with expensive pre-vegetated green roof systems that are delivered in metal or plastic boxes (often called trays or planters) and then simply placed on a rooftop. "With these solutions and additionally combined with irrigation, sustainability goes literally down the drain," warns Jorg Breuning, "this is green (roof) washing for quick bucks".

Green roof Service LLC - Green Roof Technology introduced low impact modern green roof technology to North America based on experience and common sense. Their clients truly manage environmental issues without using precious resources, at incredible low operational cost and without any risk of failure.

Germany breaks 3 solar power records in 2 weeks

Since 5 years Green Roof Service LLC / Green Roof Technology is desperately trying to convince North Americans of the combination Solar and Green Roof.

Whether it is the world’s famous Universities, the world’s biggest corporations, the National Roofing Association or the Green Roof Association of North America, none of them seems the future of combined modern technologies.

Short term profits, ignorance and greed semm to blind North America - it isn't the sun blinding. These egoistic behaviors are reasons why North America is losing more and more ground in the technology sector, respect in the world and last but not least Millions of jobs.

I hope there is an App for it …. Well, without power it might not help.

On April 7th, 2014, the City of Sydney, Australia approved a Green Roofs and Walls Policy. The Policy will be carried out by the Strategic Planning and Urban Design Committee of Sydney. A three year plan, its main goal is to raise awareness of the importance of green space in urban areas as well as promote the implementation of potential green roofs and walls.

Sydney is already in the lead of the green revolution, with a total of 83 green roofs and walls throughout the city. In addition, 50-70 likely projects have been approved to construction and should be underway soon.The Green Roof Meadow at the Prince Alfred Park Pool is one of the largest in Sydney. Complete with 2,000 square meters of green space, including over 35,000 seasonal and native grasses.

The city is also home to One Central Park residential towers, featuring the world's tallest vertical garden at 33 stories. These gardens consist of 190 native Australian plants as well as 160 exotic species. Although it may not be the tallest for long - Shri Lanka is now in the running with plans to build a 46 story residential building, with multiple vertical gardens, proposed to be completed by the end of 2016.

Lucy Sharman, Sydney's Green Roofs and Walls Senior Project Officer explains, "With higher-density living and a growing population, we need to accommodate people in a healthy way and use urban space as wisely as possible." And it seems that advocating for a greener city is working. "We receive more than one development application each week for a green roof or wall," says Sharman.

The Green Roofs and Walls Policy isn't their only attempt to create a cleaner and healthier environment. The city has been working on many movements, such as 202020. Working towards 20% more green spaces in urban places by the year 2020.